Assembling apparatus



April 24, 1945.

R. B. KLING ET AL ASSEMBLING APPARATUS Filed May 6, 1943 7 SheetsSheet l mwu A V emu mmw HTTOENEY April 24, 1945. R. B. KLING Er AL ASSEMBLING APPARATUS Filed May 6, 1943 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 F/GZ 272-266 263 //.VVE/VTOE5 E. B. Ku/va G. ,4. SEELEY HTTOENEY Filed May 6, 1943 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 w- 7 3 w 2 7 z u g. a 52 M3 MW/M a m a a m 2 9 //Vl ENT0E$ R. B. K LING 6. A. SEELEY zrs l P... a4-,/

April 24 1945. R. B. KLING ETAL I ASSEMBLING APPARATUS Filed May 6, 1943 7 Sheets-Shegt 4 lA/VENTOES E. B. Ku/va G. H. SEELEY 4 7 H7 TOENE Y A ri124, 1945.

R. KLING ETAL ASSEMBLING APPARATUS Filed May 6, 1943 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 WNN WNW INVENTOES E. 5. K L INC? (2 A SEELEY A roe/vs) April 24, 1945.

R. B. KLING ETAL ASSEMBLING APPARATUS 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed May 6, 1943 HTTO April 1945. R. B. KLING ETAL 2,374,358

. ASSEMBLING APPARATUS Filed May 6, 1943 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 t L 379 31 H 66 i-w /NVENTOR5 1- REM/N6. nov. 1 GIASEELEY TTO/ NEY Patented Apr. 24, 1945 ASSEMBLING APPARATUS Ralph B. Kling and George A. Seeley, Baltimore, Md., assignors to Western Electric Company,

Incorporated, New Yo New York N. Y., a. corporation of Application May 6, 1943, Serial No. 485,878

11 Claims.

This invention relates to an assembling apparatus and more particularly to an apparatus for assembling soft rubber grommets in apertures in terminal boxes.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple apparatus for expeditiously assembling a plurality of parts.

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, apparatus is provided wherein in one operation a plurality of soft rubber grommets or bushings, which may vary in number, are in- 1 serted in apertures in a terminal box, the size of which controls the number of grommets inserted by the apparatus. The apparatus is hydraulically actuated and the grommets are fed from removable hoppers through guides which deform the grommets and direct their forward ends into the apertures in the terminal box, which has been lifted hydraulically to position to receive thegrommets and, thereafter, hydraulically actuated plungers are reciprocated to complete the insertion of the grommets in their respective apertures and to initiate restoration of the apparatus to normal position.

A better understanding of the invention may be had by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a partial plan view of an apparatus embodying the invention, parts being broken away to show the construction-of the guides which guide the grommets to position;

Fig. 2v is a transverse vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 22 of Fig. 1 in the direction of the arrows showing portions of the actuating mechanism for moving terminal boxes to position to receive grommets and the feeding means for the grommets;

Fig. 3 is a view in perspective of a terminal box having apertures for receiving the grommets and showing some of the grommets in place in their apertures, the box being shown broken to conserve space;

Fig. 4 is an irregular transverse vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 4-4 of Fig. 1 in the direction of the arrows showing a portion of the mechanism for control-' ling the number of grommets fed by the apparatus;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary detailed sectional view through a portion of the mechanism for supporting the terminal box and showing a grommet inserted in an aperture in the terminal box;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantially on the line 6-6 of Fig. 4 in the direction of the arrows showing a portion of the terminal box carrying mechanism and a portion of the control mechanism for determining the number of grommets to be inserted in the terminal box;

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary plan section taken substantially along the line 1-1 of Fig. 4 m

the direction of the arrows showing more portions of the control mechanism for determining the number of grommets to be inserted;

Figs. 8 and 9 are fragmentary longitudinal vertical sectional views taken substantially along the line 88 and 99, respectively, of Fig. 1 in the direction of the arrows, showing still further portions of the control mechanism for determining the number of grommets to be fed;

Figs. 10 and 11 are fragmentary detail sectional views taken substantially along the line 10-40 and H-ll of Fig. 8 in the direction of the arrows;

Figs. 12, 13 and 14 are detail views in perspective of parts of the control mechanism for the grommet inserting portion of the apparatus.

Fig. 15 is a fragmentary detail sectional view through one of the magazines taken substantially along the line l5-l5 of Fig. 1 in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 16 is a view in perspective of one of the magazines; and

Fig. 1'7 is aschematic view of the hydraulic and electrical circuits for controlling the operation of the apparatus and regulating the sequence of operation of parts thereof.

Referring to the drawings, wherein like ref- I .erence characters designate the same parts l grommets 30, as most clearly illustrated in Figs.

3 and 5, are also oval in shape and have a. flat outer portion 3|, a shank portion 32, and a peripherally extending shoulder portion 33. The fiat portion 3! has a groove 34 formed in it to provide a" very thin walled section, as shown at 35, which may be broken to insert wires through the grommets into the interior of the terminal box afterthe grommets-have been inserted in the apertures 29.

The terminal boxes 20, into which the grommets are to be inserted, may be of any one of three different sizes and in all of the views illustrating the invention, the intermediate size has been shown. The smaller of the terminal boxes 20 are providedwith seven grommet receiving aperatures 28, the intermediate size terminal boxes 20 are provided with eleven grommet receiving apertures 29 and the largest size,

box is provided with seventeen apertures. The apparatus of the present invention is designed to automatically insert grommets into all of the apertures in the boxes under control of the box.

attached to it a pair of side frames 46 and 41,.

which extend upwardly above the table to support some portions of the apparatus and extend down- Wardly below the table to cooperatewithother movable portions of the apparatus.

The grommets insertedin the apertures 29 in the terminal-boxes 20 are fed to the terminal boxes-from magazines 5B, which may be removably mounted on the framework of the apparatus and of which there are provided three cooperating and slightly differently shaped magazines 50. The outer contours of the magazine 50, as most clearly illustrated in Fig. 1, are so shaped that the three magazines will nest in place in the apparatus. One of the magazines 50, as shown in Fig. 16, comprises a main body portion-51, in which there are provided a series of grommet receiving grooves 52, in which the grommets will be held by retainer plates 53 and-54, which are of similar construction. Themain body portion 5| has suitably attached to it a base portion 55, in which there are provided a series of slots 55,

which cooperate with the bottom of the main 7 body portion 5! to serve as guides for tongues 51 of a retainer comb 58.- In addition to the tongues 51, the comb 58 has a series of shorter tongues 59- the side frames 46 and 41 and serving to support the three magazines and a pair of spacer blocks 10 and 1| adjacent the side frames 46 and 41, respectively. It should be noted, at this time, as may be seen most clearly in Fig. 1, that the right hand magazine 50 has its left end formed irregularly to cooperate with the rightend of the middle magazine 50, whereas the left hand magazine 50 has its right end formed irregularly to cooperate with the middle magazine 50 in such a manner that each magazine unit will support the grommets in it so that the magazines may readily be replaced in position in the apparatus when the supply'of grommets in one of the magazines is exhausted. It may be well to note at this time that when the smallest size terminal box 20 is having grommets inserted in it, only the right hand magazine 50 will have grommets removed from it, when the intermediate size terminal box is being supplied with grommets, only the right hand and middle magazines will have grommets removed from them, whereas when the largest size terminal box is having grommets inserted in it, the grommets will be removed from all three magazines 5!).

The terminal box 20, into which grommets 38 are to be inserted, may be placed by an operator on a cradle, designated generally by the numeral 15, in the position shown in dot and dash lines (Fig. 2). The cradle 15 is provided with leg portions 16 and 11 (Fig. 6) at the lower ends of which there are formed camming portions 18 and 19, respectively. The camming portions 18 and 19 are adapted to engage with cam rollers 88 and BI, respectively, freely rotatable adjacent the lower ends of the side frames 46 and 41. At their upper ends, the leg portions 16 and 11 are jointed together by a web 82, on which a series of posts 83-83 are mounted for supporting a plate 84, which extends across the entire width of the cradle and is adapted to serve as a back rest for the terminal boxes 20. The plate 84 has extending upwardly from-it a locating pin 85, which is adapted to enter the aperture in the righthand lug 23 (Fig. 6) of the terminal box 20, thereby to properly locate the terminal box on the cradle 15., The plate 84- is also cut out, as shown at 86-86, to permit the lugs 24 and 26 to enter the plate so that the terminal box will rest on its back on the plate 84. There are four cut-outs 86 formed in the plate 84 to receive the right hand lug 24 or the left hand lug 26 of the three different sizes of terminal boxes 28. The web 82 of the l cradle has a plurality of spring pressed plungers has been placed in. the apparatus, as will be described more in detail hereinafter.

In addition tothe base portion 55, .the body portion 5| has attachedthereto a pair of guide members SI and 62 at the rear and front of the magazines, respectively. The guide members Gland 82 are cut away, as shown at ,63 and 64, respective; ly, .to receive the lower ends of the retainer mem-. bers 53 and 54 when the retainer plates are in. their normal position, Where the retainer platesmay be held by means of machine screws 65 and 81 seated in it for normally holding the terminal box 20 up off of the web 82 when the terminal box 20 is placed on the cradle 15. In addition to the plungers 81, the .web 82 has fixed'to it a highly sensitive switch 88, which will be closed each time a terminal box is placed on the cradle 15 to prepare an operating circuit for the various moving parts of the apparatus.

The camming portions 18 and 18 of the eradle '15 extend into slots 89 and 90 formed in a slidable carrier 9|, which is slidable in ways 92 and 93 formed in the side frames 46 and 41, whereby the carrier 9| may .be reciprocated vertically. The carrier 9| has a plurality of guide blocks 94 fixed to it, which are adapted to engage the interior of the terminal box 20 of the various sizes and support them relatively rigidly while grommets are inserted inthem. The guide blocks 94 will clamp the terminal boxes 20 between the lower surfaces of the guide blocks and the plungers 81 when the cradle 15 is rocked from the position shown in Fig. 2 to the position shown in Fig. 4 and the cradle will be rocked from the position shown in Fig. 2 to the position shown in Fig. 4 by the cam roller 80 engaging the surface of the camming portion 18 as the carrier 9| is moved upwardly. As soon as the sloping edge of the terminal box 20 engages the undersurface of' as shown most clearly in Figs. 2, 4 and '1, a pair of racks I and ml, which mesh with gears I02.

and I03, respectively, mounted upon a shaft I04, which also carries a gear I05 fixed to it. Meshing with the gear I05 is a rack I06 mounted upon the piston rod I01, which carries a piston I08 in the cylinder 40. When the piston I08 moves downwardly (Fig. 17) in the cylinder 40, the piston rod I01 will be drawn downwardly, as will be the rack I06, thereby to rotate the shaft I04 in a clockwise direction (Figs. 2 and 4) and thus cause the carrier 9| to be raised from the position shown in Fig. 2 to the position shown in Fig. 4. As the carrier 9| moves upwardly, the camming portion 18 of the cradle 15, due to its engagement with the cam roller 80, will rock the cradle clockwise to seat the terminal box on the guide block or guide blocks '94. After the terminal box 20 is seated on the guide block or guide blocks 94, further upward movement of the carrier 9I will cause the terminal box to be clamped into position to receive grommets 30.

Mounted on the piston rod I01 (Figs. 4 and 17) is an arm I09 adapted to engage and close a switch I I0, which wil1 initiate the operation of other movable parts of the apparatus, as the carrier 9| reaches its upper position. The switch IIO completes a circuit (Fig. 17) through a normally closed switch II I to energize a relay coil I I2 which controls the operation of .a piston H3 in the cylinder 4 I.

The operation of the piston I08, which has been described hereinbefore, may be initiated by the manual closure of a pair of switches H4 and H5, which will connect a 110 volt current source '6 through the switch 88, across the winding of a relay II1. When the relay H1 is energized by the closure of switches 88, H4 and H5, it will connect the 110 volt source IIB to a solenoid H8 and will lock up through the contacts of a normally closed switch II9. When the solenoid H8 is energized, it will shift a valve I20 to position to connect a source of fluid under pressure I2I to. the upper end of the cylinder 40, thereby to drive the piston I08 downwardly. As pointed out hereinbefore, the arm I09 will close the switch IIO as the piston I08 reaches its lowermost position and this will cause the energlzation of the relay coil II2, which will, in turn, complete a circuit from the 110 volt current source II6 to a solenoid I22 for shifting a valve I23 from the position shown in Fig. 17 to position to supply fluid under pressure from the source I2I to the upper end of the cylinder 4|, thereby to drive the piston I I3 downwardly.

.The piston II 3 has connected to it a piston rod, I24 (Figs. 1 and 17) to the upper end of which there is suitably secured a rack I25. The rack I25, a seen most clearly in Fig. 1, is seated in a slot I26 formed in a bracket I21, which is mounted upon the table or shelf 45. Meshin with the rack I is a gearI28 fixed to a' shaft I29, which also carries a pair of gears I30 and I3I in, mesh with rack bars I32 and I33, respectively. Therack bars I32 and I33 are slidable horizontally in ways I34 and l35, respectively, formed in the side frames 46 and 41.

The forward ends of the rack bars I32 and I33 are interconnected by a plate I having attached to it seven feed finger I 46, which are adapted to feed grommets from the right hand magazine 50. The feed fingers extend into position between the guide rails I41 formed integrally with a cross plate I48, which is suitably mounted on the side frames 46 and 41 and extend across the apparatus beneath the rails 68 and 69. Thecross plate I48 is milled out to form the uide rails I41 and it should be noted that the space between adjacent rails I41 narrows down.

toward the end of the rails I41 and that directly beneath the grooves 52 in the magazines 50 pockets I49 are formed by the guide rails I41, being cut away slightly so that grommets may drop from the grooves 52 into the trackway formed by the rails I41 and that the grommets which drop down onto the cross plate I48 will be pressed as they are pushed toward the rear of the apparatus by the feed fingers I46, thus to facilitate their entry intothe apertures 29 in the terminal box 20. It should also be noted that the ends of the feed fingers I46 are concave, as shown at-I50, to engage a large surface of the grommets as the feed fingers feed grommets toward the aperture 29 in the terminal boxes. Two of the feed fingers I46 have slots I5I milled in them (Figs. 1

and 15) for receiving resilient catches I52, which are attached to the feed fingers I 46 and plate I45 by means of fiat head machine screws I53. The first time the feed fingers I46 are moved to the right (Fig. 15), they will carry the grommet 30, which had been dropped into position on the cross plate I48, from a previous magazine, and

will feed that grommet toward a terminal box positioned to receive grommets. As the feed fingers I46 reach their farthest position to the right (Fig. 15), the catches I52 will engage in the apertures 60 in the retainer comb 58 and when the feed fingers I46 are retracted to their normal position, as shown in Fig. 15 and Fig. 1, the retainer cone 58 will be pulled out from under the magazine 50, then positioned on the rails 68 and 69, to permit grommets 30 to drop down out of the magazine onto the plate I48 into the pocket I49.

Those feed fingers I46 which do not have catches I 52 mounted in them are held on the plate I 45 by means of a key I54 common to all of the fingers I 46 and by the machine screws I55 individual to the feed fingers I46.

The lefthand one of the feed fingers I46, as

viewed in Fig. 1, has one end of a bridging plate I r to feed grommets from the middle and lefthand The plate I45 has a slot I62 milled in it (Figs.

1, 8, l and 11) for receiving the heads of three key members I63, I64 and I65. The shanks'of the three members I63, I64 and I65 extend down through apertures I68,-I61 and I68, respectively, formed at the base of the slot I62 and into apertures I69, I18 and I" formed in a, block I12 suitably attached to the underside of the plate I45. The right end (Fig. 8) of the block I12 is cut out to receive a guide plate I13, which extends from the front side of an L-shaped member I14 at the front of the apparatus to a position partly under the crossplate I48, from which the guide plate I13 is spaced by a. spacer I15. Thus, the guide plate I13 serves to support the plate I45 in its travel, the L-shaped member I14 being fixed to the side frame 46. The banks of the key members I63, I 64 and I65 are all of substantially the same construction and the key member I63 is shown in detail in Fig. 12, wherein its shank is cut away, as shown at I16, to provide a flattened portion from which a cam lug I11 extends. Each of the key members I 63, I 64 and I65 have similar cam lugs on them and these cam lugs extend into slots I19, I88 and IN. The slot I18 is formed in a camming plunger'I82 and the slots I88 and I8 I are formed in acamming plunger I83, both of the camming plungers being normally urged to the left (Fig. 8) by compression springs I84 and I85, respectively, which abut the ends of the plungers and a pin I86.

From the foregoing, it is believed to be apparent that when the camming plunger I82 is moved to the right against the action oi. the spring I84,

as will be described hereinafter, the key-member I63 will be moved upwardly to the position shown in Fig- 8 and when the plunger I83 is moved to the right (Fig. 8), the key membersiiland I65 will be moved from the position shown in Fig. 8 to a position inalignment with the key member I63. The feed plates I58 and I58 are provided with key slots I81 and I88 and when any one of the key members I63, I64 or I65 are moved to their upper positions, the key members will lock the feed plate with which it is associated to the plate I45 for movement by the plate I45. Similarly, when the key members I63, I64 and I65 are spouses and 283. The camming members 288 and 288 are mounted in superposedrelation in a slot2Il formed in a guide member 2| t. The camming members 288 and 288 are of exactly the same construction and each of them carries a roller 1|: at its forward end and has a win face 2|: at its rear end. The camming members 288 and 288 are urged toward the rear of the apparatus by compression springs 2I4 and 2I5, which engage plungers 2I8 and 2I9, which, in turn, bear against shoulders 2I6 and 211, respectively, on the actuator members 28I and 282. The springs 244 and H5 are seated in pockets 228 and 22I in a block 222 mounted on the left hand surface of the L-shaped member I14. The cam faces 2I3 on the camming members 288 and 288 are in engagement with a pair of actuator rollers 223 and 224 (Figs. 7, 13 and 14), which are, in turn, mounted upon the. left'end (Fig. 7) of a pair of irregularlyshaped push rods 225 and 226 having cam faces 221 and 228. The cam fa-ces 221 and 228 of the push rods 225 and 226 are so positioned that they will be engaged by cam rollers 223 and 238 when the cam rollers are shifted from their normal position to position in vertical alignment with the push rods 225 and 226 by a medium size terminal box 28 or a large size terminal box 38, being fed to the apparatus. The cam rollers 229 and 238 are mounted onthe ends of plungers 23I and 232, respectively, which extend through the middle and lefthand guide blocks 84 and are urged toward the front of the machine by compression springs 233 and 234, respectively (Figs. 4 and 7), which are seated in the guide blocks 94 and engage pins 235 and 236 fixedin the plungers 23I and 232, respectively. The push rods 225 and 226 are slidably mounted in a bracket 231 extending upwardly from the table and when they are pushed to the left (Fig. 7) due to the engagement of the plungers 23I and 232 by the largest size terminal box 28, the cam rollers 228 and 238 will be moved into vertical alignment with the push rods 225 and 226, whereby, when the terminal box 28 is carried upwardly to the position shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the cam rollers 22.! and 238 will engage the push rods 225 and 226 to push them to the left (Fig. 7). When the rods 225 and 226 are pushed to the left, they will push the camming members-288 and 283 toward in their downward position, as illustrated by'the are fixed in the plate 283 and extend into slots 286 and 281, respectively, in the member 28!. Similar slots I98-I38 are formed in the members 282 and whenoperated, the actuator members will be moved toward the front of the machine and to the right (Figsfl and 8) by either one of a pair of slidable camming members 288 the front of the apparatus and shift both of the actuator members 28I and 282 to the right (Fig. 7) thus to push thecamming plungers I82 and I83 to the right (Fig. 8) and push similar camming plungers 238 and 239 to the right (Fig. 9). The camming plungers 238 and 238 are of a construction similar to the camming plungers I 82 and I83 and have similar slots formed in them for engaging cam lugs I11 formed on key members 248, 24I and 242. It will be noted that the slots in the cammingplungers 238 and 238 are oppositely disposed with respect to those formed in the camming plungers I82 and I83, whereby, when the plungers I82 and I83 retract their key members I64 and I from engagement with key slot I88-in the feed plate I58, the key members 2 and 242 will be pushed out into a key slot 243 in the plate I58 and, similarly, when the keymember I63 is pushed into the keyslot I81 in the feed plate I58, the key member 248 will be retracted from a key slot 244 in the feed plate I58. While the block I12 in-which the key members I63, I64 and I65 areslidable vertically is fixed to the plate I45, it willtbe understood that the key members 248, 24I and 242-are slldable in the L-shaped member I14, and thus when the key members I63 or I64 or I65 are moved upwardly to engage the key slot I81 or I88, the key member 246 or key members 24I or 242 must be retracted from the key slots 244 and 243. Accordingly, the actuator member '26I controls the operationof the plungers I82 and 238, whereas the actuator member 262 controls the operation of the cam plungers I83 and 239.

After a terminal box 26 has been carried to the position shown in Figs. 4 and 5, and the plungers 23I and 232 have been set in place to shift the key members I63, I64, I65, 246, 24I and 242, if necessary, depending upon the size of the terminal box 20, the plate I45 will be drawn toward the rear of the apparatus to feed the proper number of grommets toward the terminal box and into the apertures 29 therein. The forward ends of all of the feed fingers I46, I66 and I6I, in moving under the magazines 56, will carry the grommets which have been deposited in the pockets I 49 toward the terminal box apertures and as the grommets are fed toward the rear of the machine, they will be deformed to a substantially oval out line by the guide rails I41. As the grommets approach the apertures 29 in the terminal box held in the position shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the advancing tip of the grommets will engage a guide plate 256, which extends across the apparatus being fixed to the side frames 46 and 41. This guide plate 256 is formed with a guide surface 25!, which the advancing end of the grommet will engage, whereby the grommet will be deflected downwardly, as shown most clearly in Fig. 4, to cause the advancing edge of it to be inserted in the aperture with the flat portion 3I of the grommet above the outer surface of the terminal box and the shoulder 33 inside the terminal box.

As soon as the piston II3 has almost completed its travel and the grommet 36 is in the position shown in Fig. 4, a contact operating arm 253 on the piston rod I24 (Fig. 17) will close a switch 254 to complete a circuit from the 110 volt source I I6 to energize a relay 255, which will lock up over its locking contacts and complete a circuit to energize a solenoid 256. Energization of the solenoid v256 will shift a valve 251 from the position shown in Fig, 17 to operative position, where it will supply fluid under pressure from the source I2I to the upper end of the cylinder 42. The cylinder 42 has a piston 258 in it which will be driven downwardly to draw a piston rod 256 downwardly. The rack 266 attached to the piston I rod 259 rides in a trackway 26I formed in the bracket 262, which is, in turn, mounted upon the table 45. Meshing with the rack 266 is an idler 263 mounted upon a stud shaft 265 fixed in the bracket 262. The idler 263 meshes with a drive gear 266 fixed onto a shaft 261. which also carries a pair of gears 268 and .269 '(Fig. 1) in mesh with racks 216 and 2'. The racks 216 and 21I are fixed to a cross plate 212, which is slidable in the side frames 46 and 41 and which carries a plurality of inserting fingers 213, one in alignment with each possible grommet receiving aperture on the largest size terminal box 26. Thus, whenfiuid under pressure is'adml'tted to the upper end of the receiving member 42, the cross plate 212 will be moved downwardly to the position shown in Fig. to push the grommet from the position shown in Fig. etc the position shown in Fig. 5,

thus completing the insertion of all the grommets at one time. As the-piston rod 259 reaches its lowermost position. a contact actuating arm 265 mounted upon it will open the normally closed switch III, thus breaking the locking circuit for the, relay H2 which will, thereupon, release as.

plete a circuit to operate solenoid II 8. solenoid H8 is energized, the valve I26 will be the relay II2 releases, solenoid I22, which will have its path to the current source broken, and a spring 266 will rock the valve I23 to the position shown in Fig. 23 and thus to permit the fluid to escape from the upper end of the cylinder 4| and to permit fluid under pressure to the lower end of the cylinder 4|. The contact operating arm 253 carries a hinged member 261, which, when the piston rod I24 moves downwardly, will rock on the upper contact of switch I I9, but when the piston I24 movesupwardly, the hinged member 261 will momentarily open the switch I I9, thereby breaking the locking circuit to relays H1 and 255, releasing these relays which will, in turn, release their associated solenoids H8 and 256 and per -tion.

A better understanding of the apparatus may be had by reference to the following brief descripthe switch 88 to :be closed and immediately the relay II1 will be energized through the contacts of the switches H4, H5 and 88, thereby to com- When moved to the opposite position from that shown in Fig. 17 and fluid under pressure will be di-' rected from the source I2I through the valve I26 to the upper end of the cylinder 46, thereby to move the piston l68 downwardly. As the piston I68 moves downwardly, the rack I66 will rotate the shaft I 64 (Figs. 2 and 4) in a clockwise direction, thereby to move a slidable 'carrier 9| upwardly. As the carrier 9I moves upwardly, the cradle 15 will be lockedto position to carry the terminal box 26 into engagement with the blocks 94. If the smallest size terminal-box has been placed on the cradle 15, neither theplunger 23I nor the plunger 232 will be moved toward the rear of the machine.-- However, if the intermediate size terminal box 26 has been placed on the cradle 15, the plunger 23I will be depressed tomove its cam roller 229 beneath the push rod 225. As the piston I68 continues to move downwardly, the

slidable carrier 9| will move upwardly to clamp the terminal box between the upper surface of the block 94 and the lower surface of the guide rails I41. In the latter part of its travel, the

' slidable carrier 9| will cause the cam roller 229 on plunger 23! to move the push rod 225 to the left (Fig. 7). When the push rod .225 is moved from the left- (Fig. '7) the camming member 268 will be moved toward the front of the machine I and, accordingly, will shift the actuator mem ber 26! to the right (Fig.- 7), thus moving the camming plungers I 82 and 238 to the-right (Figs. '1, 8 and 9). As the camming plunger 238 moves to the right, it will draw the key 246 out of the notch 244 in the feed plate I58 and asth'e camming plunger I82 moves to the right; it will push the key member I63 into the slot' I81 in the feed plate I58. Thus the feed plate I58 will be tied .to the plate I 45 for .movement with it. If, on the other hand, the largest size terminal box v26is placed on the cradle 15, both the plungers 23I tioned key members downwardly.

As soon as the piston I 08 reaches its lowermost position, the arm I09on the piston rod ID! will close switch I In to supply current from the source II6 to energize the relay II2. When relay H2 is energized, it will supply energizing current to the solenoid I22, which will shift its valve I23 to connect the source of fluid under pressure I2I to the upper end of the cylinder 4I. When the fluid under pressure is admitted to the upper end of the cylinder 4|, piston II3 will be driven downwardly, thereby to actuate the rack bars I32 and I33 and move the plate I45 toward the rear of the apparatus. As the plate I45 moves toward the rear of the apparatus, the feed fingers I46 and the feed fingers IE and I 6| will be moved.

toward the rear of the apparatus to feed grommets from the pockets I49 toward the rear of the machine. It will be understood that the feed fingers I60 and IGI will be operative only if both of the plungers 2-3I and 232 have been actuated and that if only the plunger 23I has been moved from its normal position, only the feed fingers I50 will be moved toward the rear of the apparatus. As the feed fingers which have been selected for operation move toward the rear of the apparatus, they will force the grommets from the pockets I 49 between the rails I41 and will deform the grommets in twoplanes. In the horizontal plane, the grommets will be deformed to facilitate their entrance into the apertures 29 and, in addition, the advancing ends of the grommets will be directed downwardly, as shown in Fig. 4 and into the aperture 29. As the piston II3 reaches the end of its travel, it will close the switch 254 to supply energizing current to the relay 255, which will close the circuit to the solenoid 256. As soon as the solenoid 256 is energ'lzed, it will shift the valve 251 to supply fluid under pressure to the upper end of the cylinder 42. Thus, the piston 258 will be driven downwardly to drive the cross plate 212 downwardly and cause the inserting fingers 213 to push the grommet the rest of the way into the aperture 29. As the piston 258 reaches the end of its travel,

it will open the normally closed switch III- to break the holding circuit for relay I I2 and as relay I I2 is tie-energized, solenoid I22 will be deenergized to reverse the valve I23 and cause the piston II 3 to be driven upwardly. In travelling upwardly, the piston I I3 will, through the hinged member 261, momentarilyopen switch I I9, breaking the locking circuit for relays 255 and I I1 and these relays will, upon de-energization, break the circuits to the solenoids I I8 and 256 to cause the reversal of valves I20 and 251, which will then supply fluid under pressure to the lower ends of the cylinders 40 and 42 for restoring the apparatus to its normal position.

What is claimed is: I

l. A grommet inserting apparatus comprising an electrically controlled hydraulic circuit including means operable by an article for preparing said circuit for operation, manually controlled means for initiating operation of said circuit, a piston actuated means operable under control of said circuit for moving an article to position to receive grommets, a second piston actuated means operable under. controlof the piston actu-- ating the first-mentioned piston actuated means for partially inserting grommets in the article, and a third piston actuated means for completing the insertion of the grommets.

2. A grommet inserting apparatus comprising an electrically controlled hydraulic circuit including means operable by an article for preparing said circuit for operation, manually controlled means for initiating operation of said circuit, a piston actuated means operable under control of said circuit for moving an article to position to receive grommets, a second piston actuated means operable under control of the piston actuating the first-mentioned piston actuated means for partially inserting grommets in the article, a third piston actuated means for completing the insertion of the grommets, and means operable under control of the third piston actuated means for restoring the hydraulic circuit to normal.

3. -A grommet inserting apparatus comprising an electrically controlled hydraulic circuit including means operable by an article for preparing said circuit for operation, manually controlled means for initiating operation of said circuit, a.

4. A grommet inserting apparatus comprising.

an electrically controlled hydraulic circuit including means operable by an article for preparing said circuit for, operation, manually controlled means for initiating operation of said circuit, a piston actuated means operable under control of said circuit for moving an article to position to receive grommets, a second piston actuated means operable under control of the piston actuating the first-mentioned piston actuated means for partially inserting grommets in the article, a third piston actuated means for completing the insertion of the grommets, and means under control of the article for determining the number of grommets inserted in the article.

5. A grommet inserting apparatus comprising an electrically controlled hydraulic circuit including means operable by an article for preparing said circuit for operation, manually controlled means for initiating operation of said circuit, a piston actuated means operable under control of said circuit for moving an article to position to receive grommets, a second piston actuated means operable under control of the piston actuating the first-mentioned piston actuated means for partially inserting grommets in the article, a third piston actuated means for completing the insertion of the grommets. and means shiftable from normal to operative position by an article for determining the number of grommets inserted by the article.

6. A grommet inserting apparatus comprising an electrically controlled hydraulic circuit including means operable by an article for preparing said circuit for operation, manually controlled means for initiating operation 01' said circult, a piston actuated means operable under control of said circuit for moving an article to position to receive grommets, a second piston piston actuating the first-mentioned piston actuated means for partially inserting grommets in the article, a third piston actuated means for completing the insertion of the grommets, and means operable by an article for controlling the operation of the second piston actuated means to determine the number of grommets inserted.

7. In an apparatus for inserting grommets in articles, a support for positioning an article to receive grommets, means cooperating with the support for inserting grommets in the article, a plurality of magazines for supplying grommets to the inserting means, and means for controlling the operation of the inserting means to transfer grommets from said magazines to the articles comprisin plungers selectively shiftable by various sizes of articles for rendering parts or the inserting means operative.

8. In an apparatus for inserting grommets in articles, means for positioning an article to receive grommets, means for deforming grommets to facilitate their entry into apertures in the arinto the articles on said positioning'means comprising a pair of grommet engaging members operable in automatic succession, and means controlled by said means for positioning the article for initiating the operation of one of said grommet engaging members. V

10. In a grommet inserting apparatus, guide means having converging side walls for compressing a grommet in one direction to facilitate its insertion in an aperture, a second guide means for directing the compressed grommet in a direction at right angles to the direction in which it is compressed to bend a compressed portion of it into the aperture, means for pushing the grommet partially through the, guide means and partially into the aperture, and means movable at right angles to the pushing means for pushing the grommet into the aperture.

11. In a grommet inserting apparatus, means for supporting an article having an aperture for receiving a grommet, means for compressing opposed sides of a grommet to contract the transverse dimension of the grommet thereby leavin the remaining opposed sides uncontracted, means for inserting one of the uncontracted sides into an aperture in an article supported by the supporting means, and means for inserting the remainder of the grommet into the aperture.

RALPH B. KLING. GEORGE A. SEELEY. 

